So If I Was Going After Donald Trump….

(NOTE: Based on time elapsed since the posting of this entry, the BS-o-meter calculates this is 4.824% likely to be something that Ferrett now regrets.)

Attacking Trump has a lot of problems, but one of the main one is that Donald’s wrong for the Presidency in so many ways that watching the media go after him is like watching a small kid chasing chickens – he runs after one, notices another getting away, runs after that. He says too many outrageous things, and it destroys the news cycle because they’re just getting hooked on one when something else too delicious to leave on the ground comes up.
So if I was in charge of the Democratic “Take Down Donald” Campaign, I’d announce a schedule:
Every two weeks, from now until the election, we will be discussing a new and entirely different way that Donald Trump is unfit for the Presidency.
And I’d focus on that with a series of commercials, the same commercials, aired as many times as humanly possible, homing in on just one of Donald’s many flaws. (I’d also call him Donald.) That would be what Hillary discusses in her campaign speeches, what I’d instruct other Democrats to focus in on, our social media targets.
So for two weeks, all we’d talk about is Trump University and what a rip-off it was, bringing out all the knives to bear, and discussing the delicious paradox of whether Donald knew he was extorting people for a degree that he knew was worthless, or whether he was just happy to walk away from it when it wasn’t what he wanted, and if so, is that what he’ll do to America when he plasters the Trump brand over the Oval Office?
Two weeks of shots. Get that in there as much as possible. Like a little television arc.
Then switch. Don’t map out the schedule in advance; be flexible. But if you do it right, people will wonder what’s coming next. It’ll be like spoilers for a movie – “I heard the next Donald Doofiness will be his lack of international knowledge.” “No, I hear it’s the accusations of him abusing his wife!” “No, I hear it’s his shameful treatment of veterans!” “It’s that he’s not even really a billionaire!” – with forums lighting up and suggestions made and his opponents getting furious.
Donald’s really good at pivoting away whenever someone starts to gain ground. So nail him down. Play his own game. Make it all about what he can’t do, and refuse to be lured away from that.
It’s what Democrats have been traditionally crappy at anyway, so might as well learn on a big target, amiright?